The present disclosure relates to a discharge system for a shredder having a rotor that shreds bales of hay, straw, silage and the like, and which selectively uses a discharge blower or fan to receive shredded material from a bale processor that disintegrates the baled material and discharges the material out a discharge chute, or uses a side discharge conveyor that discharges the shredded material in a windrow, such as in a feed bunk or along the ground.
In the prior art, bale shredders, such as those typically shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,449,672 and 5,090,630, use a rotor with flails to disintegrate a bale of material and create a large air flow at the same time for discharging the material directly out to the side of the shredder.
Other bale shredders have used a fan that creates a large air flow that will blow the shredded material through a discharge chute a long distance from the machine, for example over 100 feet.
Various types of hay and silage wagons have used side discharge conveyors that will discharge material laterally of the wagon using a conveyor, so that a windrow is deposited off the outer end of the conveyor directly into a feed bunk, or onto the ground for feeding.
The bale processors with fans or blowers can discharge material onto the ground for feeding livestock, or can cover the ground with mulch when land is being reclaimed, such as when reseeding, redoing mines, roadwork and the like. Material also can be blown into feed bunks, windrows or stockpiles for later use as well, but the fan tends to spread the material and blow away smaller particles, and does not give the opportunity to closely control the size and placement of the windrow.